How much $$ for new life in Canada?

[Fencesitter]

Just curious to know how much money others are planning to bring to re-establish in Canada? Starting from scratch is a scary prospect, but if you have saved and planned everything, how much do you think is necessary for the following:

1. New furniture (living room, dining room, two bedrooms, office)
2. Lease of a new car + insurance
3. Rent for a nice 2-3 bedroom apartment or house (just for the first year or two)
4. Incidentals

We're moving to London, Ontario, and while I understand that the cost of living will be different from city to city, it would still be nice to get an average or rough idea of what to expect.

My idea is something like this:

1. Furniture: CA$5,000
2. Lease of car + insurance: car @ CA$600-700 / month + insurance at around CA$250 / month
3. Rent: CA$1,000 to 1,500 / month
4. Incidentals: no idea...but not too much...less than CA$5,000

Is the above realistic? It's been a long time since I lived in Canada, so I have no idea how much things will cost...like groceries...no idea how much I should budget for a family of 3...

I'll be earning about CA$5,500 (after taxes).

We're also going back with a good chunk of money, but we really don't want to use it all as we need to save for our future (mostly for our son's university tuition...).

Thanks!

FS

 

[tahsinmohammad]

Just curious to know how much money others are planning to bring to re-establish in Canada? Starting from scratch is a scary prospect, but if you have saved and planned everything, how much do you think is necessary for the following:

1. New furniture (living room, dining room, two bedrooms, office)
2. Lease of a new car + insurance
3. Rent for a nice 2-3 bedroom apartment or house (just for the first year or two)
4. Incidentals

We're moving to London, Ontario, and while I understand that the cost of living will be different from city to city, it would still be nice to get an average or rough idea of what to expect.

My idea is something like this:

1. Furniture: CA$5,000
2. Lease of car + insurance: car @ CA$600-700 / month + insurance at around CA$250 / month
3. Rent: CA$1,000 to 1,500 / month
4. Incidentals: no idea...but not too much...less than CA$5,000

Is the above realistic? It's been a long time since I lived in Canada, so I have no idea how much things will cost...like groceries...no idea how much I should budget for a family of 3...

I'll be earning about CA$5,500 (after taxes).

We're also going back with a good chunk of money, but we really don't want to use it all as we need to save for our future (mostly for our son's university tuition...).

Thanks!

FS

Average Monthly Expenses :

Rent :1200 - 1500 ( 3 Bed Room)
Car Lease + Insurance:500 +300
Internet+TV+Telephone+Cell Phone :250
Food & Groceries:1000 (Depends upon how many times in a week you eat outside and it may go high or may come down too)
Miscellaneous & Recreational Stuff :300

So on a avg side per month around 3000-3500 dollars should be more than enough for a month as per my opinion....

One time expenditure will depend upon you that how much you want to spend like on furniture,car make and year,setting up your apt with things etc etc..You can go with 5000 dollars just on furniture as u said or u can go 10000 dollars as well..same with the car too...So plan accordingly to your budget....

 

[ohliuw]

1. New furniture - depends, if you want to buy electronics like 3D smart TVs, etc ... for furniture, check some sites like thebrick, etc to get basic idea. They usually run deals when you buy sofa + loveseat, you get a 50" plasma, etc. Also, if you buy fridge and stove, they'd throw a washer, etc ... My advice is to try and buy everything from the same place and negotiate a lot, especially since you are buyng cash, so they won't have to absorb the financing cost.

2. Lease of a new car + insurance - depends what you want. Mosy places offer 0% financing on some models, you can finance/lease as low as 200/month for a Nissan, Hyundai, etc. Or, you could spend 1500 on a bimmer Check the websites for offers, but you can get better deals when you walk into a stealership.

3. Rent for a nice 2-3 bedroom apartment or house (just for the first year or two) - no idea for London.

4. Internet+TV+Telephone+Cell Phone - if you want it all, I'd say more than $300, especially if you get 3 smartphones with big data plans. But you can also get HD over the air for free, not sure what the reception is in London - you can check this website for coverage: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29. It's great option if you don't watch much TV, and it could save you $1500/year cable costs.

On the side note, 5500 after tax is easy in the 6 digits/year before taxes. Maybe I should consider moving to a smaller city 8)

 

[amikety]

It also depends on where you shop. You can go to a high end furniture store and easily spend $5000 for two bedrooms or be cheap like me. We bought almost all of our furniture at either Ikea or Liquidation World. Our sofa from LW is from Ashley furniture and costs $1200 brand new in their showroom. Paid $300 at LW. My new bed from Ikea cost $400 including the bedframe (which is the type of slide out drawers). Dresser was $150, it's a double dresser. End tables were $50 each on sale at Ikea. That's less than $700 for the master bedroom - and it looks great. Yes, my husband has spent hours assembling the Ikea stuff. The savings, however, are worth it to us.

The whole car issue - one question to ask is: Do I really *need* a car? Not want, but need. If you have easy access to public transit (if you have transit, that is) you may be able to put off buying a car until you have your furniture taken care of. Btw, do not lease a car. Leasing a car is like flushing money down the toilet. You'd be much better off buying last year's model or a reliable used car that's 2-3 years old. I've been in Canada for 15 months now and don't have a car. We/I technically can afford one (based on the allowance my husband gives me) but I'd rather save the money to put towards a house. Walking/bussing isn't always great, especially in Winter, but my saving account is very happy.

Rent - here I go being unpopular again. To rent a main floor two bedroom starts at $1000 in the crappy neighborhoods. Goes to $1200 plus in better areas. However, in those same nice areas, the two bedroom basement unit is only $800. People seem to have a lot of prejudice against living in the basement unit for whatever reason. It's lost on me. My unit is nice, has decent windows, and it has more space than the upstairs. Because the walls are thicker, the windows also double as shelves, meaning we didn't have to put any up to display trinkets. Once again, we can afford a main floor, but living in a basement saves us $400 a month. We save some of that and usually waste the other half on entertaining ourselves, ha ha.

 

[Steph C]

I just came from that town .. 8)
I think your estimates for rent are bang on. It's possible it may even be a bit cheaper then that. Personally I found rent there to be the exact same cost as it was in Vancouver in the late 90's.
You absolutely need a car in that town. It seems to have been built that way. Other things I found incredibly cheap there were food in the grocery store (not Lablaws). I'm sure you can find good prices on furniture at one of the many box stores along the highway.

* I don't know why car insurance is so high there in London ON but probably because everyone drives like *holes.

 

[Fencesitter]

Thanks for the feedback.

Okay, so let me ask this: how much total would you suggest bringing back to re-establish in Canada? How much do people here normally bring with them to start a new life in the great white north? $20,000? $30,000?

Thanks,
FS